As you are well aware, I have kept my health status to myself in an effort to make sure we focus on the important issues of our great country. When I was 39 years old, I contracted polio which resulted in total paralysis in my legs all the way to my hips. I have braces to help me walk and with all the stress of the war I have been using my wheelchair to get around.
This has made an impact on my train journeys since the speed of the train is limited to 35 miles per hour to minimize my discomfort from
the vibration of the rail car. Now with twenty years of limited exercise, my muscles are weak, this includes my heart. The stress of the presidency has taken a toll, and my smoking habit has not helped, on my health. In 1944, I was diagnosed with hypertension, congestive heart failure, and an enlarged heart - which means my heart has a hard time circulating blood throughout my body. Don't worry - I am taking medication to make it better.
My health will not deter me from seeing the great nation of the United States through the end of this war! I will not rest until our young men come home victors in this important war.
Yours in Victory,
FDR
